@madpilot makes

I simply had to have one. As I previously posted, the ever so clever guy from http://ssandler.wordpress.com/MTmini/ posted instructions for making your own multi-touch (think Microsoft Surface or iPod Touch) pad. So what can any self-respecting geek do, other than to build one? Here is what I did.

Being the impatient kind of guy that I am, I didn’t want to have to buy anything to complete the build (I had to wait unit after work, and the shops were closed), so I did a little substitution with stuff you might find around your house. The ingredients:

• 1 x An old red wine glass box (Although any decent sized box would do)
• 1 x A4 picture frame
• 1 x 6 year-old Dlink DCB-C300 Webcam
• 30 cm of baking paper
• 4cm of sticky tape
• 1 blob of Bluetac
• 1 x Software bundle from http://ssandler.wordpress.com/MTmini/

I had to modify the webcam slightly, as the current configuration was too long to fit in the box very well (You need as much gap between the pad and camera as possible which will give you maximum usage space), so I had to bend some pins to get it to lie flat. Next, I bluetac’d it to the bottom of the box. Next I took the cardboard backing off the picture frame, removed the glass and covered one side in the baking paper. I used the sticky tape to fasten it in, and replace the paper-clad glass back in the frame. Placing the frame on top of said box completes the build.

After installing the software and following the instructions (including the calibration instructions) it was done! Yep. That’s right. Done. 5 minutes work really (Not includingbending the pins and digging out the drivers for the webcam). See the photos and short (badly shot) video as proof of this wondrous feat. This is SERIOUSLY COOL.

And the proof that is works: